How NRL will protect players

ARL commissioner and head of the NRL’s Innovation Committee, Wayne Pearce, has revealed plans to monitor and quarantine all players as the league gets set to resume the 2020 season.

The NRL confirmed yesterday it will push ahead with a May 28 resumption date, but mystery remains over the structure of the competition with league headquarters yet to receive final approvals from the government.

The ARL commissioner assured fans they were going off the advice of experts and would be introducing a number of tough protocols to ensure player safety during the coronavirus pandemic.

‘‘We’re implementing stringent biosecurity measures that come on the advice of an expert we’re using,’’ Pearce said.

‘‘We will be adhering to the strictest guidelines in terms of policing those measures.

‘‘We are focused on safety for our players and community safety.’’

Pearce also confirmed the NRL will undergo a number of testing procedures to ensure there’s minimal risk for clubs and players of contracting the virus.

‘‘It depends on who gets it, who they’ve contacted with in previous days,’’ he said.

‘‘There’s a whole lot of protocols. We’re going to be rigorously testing… and temperature testing. We’ll also do a bit more detailed testing around the swabs.’’

paramount.

‘‘We still need that information before the players are in a position to endorse or support it. That’s around the welfare and well-being support, the injury management and the revenue, which comes in two parts – the operational costs and the distribution of the revenues.’’